Duan Qirui

Duan Qirui (1865–1936) was a Chinese military and political leader who served several terms as premier of the Republic of China during the warlord era.

Yuan Shikai: A Qing general and the first president of the Republic of China, who ruled as an autocrat before his death in 1916. Duan rose within Yuan’s military establishment and later led the political faction built around Yuan’s former Beiyang officers.
Beiyang Army: A modernized Chinese military force created under the Qing dynasty and later divided among competing warlords. Duan’s authority rested on his position among the army’s senior officers.
Anhui clique: A Beiyang warlord faction led by Duan Qirui that dominated Beijing politics in the late 1910s. This faction organized Duan’s military and political supporters.
Twenty-One Demands: A set of demands Japan presented to China in 1915 to expand its political and economic privileges. Duan’s later government accepted agreements tied to Japan’s demands in return for financial support.
Feng Guozhang: A Beiyang Army general and president of the Republic of China from 1917 to 1918. Feng’s Zhili faction contested Duan’s influence within the Beiyang leadership.
Beiyang government: The internationally recognized central government of the Republic of China, based in Beijing from 1912 to 1928. Duan held the premiership in this Beijing-centered political system.
Zhili–Anhui War: The 1920 conflict in which the Zhili faction defeated Duan Qirui’s Anhui faction. Its outcome destroyed Duan’s immediate control of the Beijing government.
Shandong Problem: The dispute over Japan’s control of former German holdings in Shandong after World War I. Duan’s wartime diplomacy and agreements helped make the transfer a focus of Chinese protest.
Cao Kun: A Zhili warlord and president of the Republic of China from 1923 to 1924. Cao led the Zhili faction that defeated Duan’s Anhui faction in 1920.
Late Qing reforms: Institutional and military changes undertaken by the Qing dynasty in its final decades. These reforms created the military institutions through which Duan advanced.

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Warlord EraRelated: He used the Beijing government as a base for factional power.